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Biofuel is a much more eco - friendly way to produce power. It comes from plants, making it a very easy and reliable way too. For example, lumber waste can be used for biofuel. After the sawing of wood, or the construction of a building, scraps can be used to make biofuels. Another way to produce biomass is to use energy crops. They are fast growing, pest tolerant plants that have been mass produced (10 - 15 tons per year).

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-Currently biofuel is produced from plants as well as microbes. it does this by utilizing the protein for its own growth.

-There is a green and renewable energy that helps in conserving fossil-fuel usage. But scientist have discovered

How?

-This kind of biofuel production is different than the original and traditional behavior.

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Recently, Guatemala's prices for crops such as corn, tortillas and eggs have raised a significant amount. The prices of all these crops have almost tripled over the past few years. The reason for the large increase in the prices is the consumption of biofuels. To explain, many bordering countries of Guatemala such as the United States have been using the crops and converting them into biofuels. The United States used 40% of all the Guatemalan crop for biofuel. The reason for the large demand of biofuel is because in many developed countries citizens are using fossil fuels for fuel for their vehicles and other necessities. As you may know fossil fuels are one of the main contributors to climate change. Many of the Guatemalan citizens are a bit mad that the developed countries are stealing their crops for biofuel. One man said "We don't have enough to eat. The developed countries don't eat biofuel."

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There is research currently happening on finding the organic production of Isobutene. Isobutene is used as a fuel additive and is also used for other things, such as producing chemicals, rubber, and adhesives. There is a new enzyme that was recently discovered called Bobik's Enzyme . This enzyme can convert glucose found in plants to produce Isobutene. This enzyme will have a positive impact on the biofeul industry. It is less expensive, and it has a good impact on the planet. According to Bobik, if it goes successfully, cars could be soon running on bio-based and environmentally friendly mixture.

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Garbage is taking over our land, spreading chemicals and diseases. Its becoming more dangerous to dump garbage in less developed countries that even landfills are wasting precious resources. How bout a change? Professor Hugh Tan said ;quote, “If developed fully this biofuel could simultaneously meet part of the world’s energy needs, while also combating carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependency.” The research team at United Nations Human development Index has calculated that 82.93 billion liters of cellulosic ethanol can be produced and reduce global carbon emissions in the range of 29.2% to 86.1% to every unit of energy produced.

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Scientist have long known ways to convert many kinds of natural or organic materials into liquid fuel. For example, trees, shrubs, algae, seaweed, etc have been used to power cars. Some advantages of biofuels are the cost just as much if not lower than gasoline, easy source (waste from crops), renewable, reduce greenhouse gases, etc. Suddenly the interest in biofuels decreased and many company's slowed down their plans with increasing the thought of biofuels. By 2012 EPA (americas environmental protection agency put in place the 2013 target for biofuels to just 53m liters.

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Pokeberries
Pokeberries are found and grow in rocky infertile soil, even during a drought. Wake forest university center are trying to achieve a green source of power with pokeberries. Nanotech scientist are using the red dye from pokeberries to use as low cost solar cells. The dye is acting as an absorber,the dye is trapping more sunlight that will be converted into power. How does the pokeberries dye obtain all of the heat?
The pokeberries are composed of millions of tiny plastic"cans." These cans can catch light until most of it has been absorbed, also the cells can catch the light no matter what angle.
How are the solar cells prepared?
First they take the plastic fibers and stamp them onto plastic sheets. Then they will spray an absorber like a polymer. When the solar cells have reached there destination they are sprayed with a die to enhance its efficiency.
Now this is pretty amazing.

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In many rich countries they are dumping their garbage to more poor countries which is doing more bad then good.According to Professor Hugh Tan, “If developed fully this biofuel could simultaneously meet part of the world’s energy needs, while also combating carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependency.” Additionally, Scientists are currently creating loads of biofuel, however, while doing that it has caused food shortage.

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Pokeberries make affordable solar power  because they can grow in rocky infertile soil, even during a drought. Pokeberries have cells that are composed of millions of tiny plastic "cans'. When the cans are exposed to light their solar cells catch it  at any angle. So how do they use this berry for solar power? They first stamp their fibers onto plastic sheets, the next step is spraying the absorber (a cheap dye). An advantage of using plastic sheets it that they are light, so these solar panels can be transported easily. It would cost about $5 million to set up a plant a Pokeberry finishing plant, $15 million dollars less than a similar plant based power plant.

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The Algaeus runs on algae for 150mpg so they are going on a tour to raise awareness of the new and clean energy. The fuel will be released in New York City, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Washington DC on September 18th.  what year?
there is no year on the article

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There is a possibility that they can reprogram the cells of the plants to get solar cells. They would get those cells from the tobacco plants. They apply their formula to tobacco plants that are already fully grown. The scientists spray their formula on the plants and it infects a cell, letting it spread throughout all the other tobacco plants.

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This is definitely a very controversial topic, as even after reading the article there was no real answer, and also in the comments section of the article there were numerous people who were sourcing their opinions about how biofuels were awesome and horrible. For example, the article stated that they are good because they are a much better alternative to coal and oil as a use for fuel, but it also said that it was bad because the space used for biofuels could also be used for the hundreds of thousands of starving people in the world, and to produce food for them. Overall, there is no real answer because there just hasn't been enough research on it yet.

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Scientists have tried many different methods of reducing the amount of fossil fuel dependency, and carbon footprints. There is a corn produced ethanol, used for mixing with gasoline, but that has negative side effects like corrosion caused by the ethanol. But recently there has been results showing that common algae can be used to create biofuel. The research tells us that the same chemicals that the algae survives on is what produces the biofuel. There are long troughs that the algae is harvested in, which allows normal river water to flow through it. The algae method is more efficient and less expensive than the ethanol, because the algae can be harvested every 5-8 days, and the algae does not need to be replanted. Even better, the algae helps to clean polluted water, and water from "dead zones" (where all the nitrogen and phosphorous kill the animals and some types of plants) by using the nitrogen and phosphorous from the water. The best part is that it helps keep lakes and rivers clean and healthy for animals and other plants living in it.

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A new enzyme called Bobik’s enzyme can convert glucose into isobutene - a fuel additive and also for producing some chemicals like plastics, synthetic rubber, and adhesives. Bobik’s enzyme can be found in about 50% of the organisms around the world around the world. This can positively affect the bio fuel production field. The conversion can take a lot of time so scientist are researching on how to speed up the time.

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Scientist say that they are completely the protein utilization of these plants because they are using the protein for their own growth. The protein contains ammonia and energy, the scientist are working so that they only remove the ammonia so the plant still has energy to grow. Once they are done tampering with these plants metabolism the residue from the plant makes a great fertilizer. This will lessen the greenhouse emissions that happen during the process of making the fertilizer. This new process will reprocess the nitrogen so that there is a neutral state and less harmful emissions.

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Scientists have known for a long time that you can convert plants into an oil. Three plants in America are expected to start producing cellulosic ethanol from waste corn cobs, leaves, and husks in 2014: POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels 75m liters and Dupont 110m liters, both in Iowa, and Abengoa 95m liters in Kansas. In 2013, America was supposed to be burning nearly 3,800m liters a year of “cellulosic” biofuels made from woody plants. George Bush saw biofuels as a route to energy independence, signing into law rules that set minimum prices and required refiners and importers to sell increasing amounts of biofuel each year. “We could get each to produce fuels at a lab scale and a demonstration scale.” But bringing biofuels to market proved to be slower and more costly than expected. Raizen hopes to produce 40m liters of cellulosic ethanol a year, which are cutting costs and boosting yield by co-locating its cellulosic operation with a traditional ethanol plant. Trees, shrubs, grasses, seeds, fungi, seaweed, algae and animal fats have all been used to be turned into biofuels to power cars, ships and also planes.

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Scientists are trying to crack up cellulose (cellulose is a substance that is the main component of plant cell walls and vegetable fibers)  from the biomass fuels. That will result in converting them to sugar in order to create more fuels. This will be beneficial to us humans in the long run. The fact that biomass can be directly converted to energy is very benefiial to our world in this day and age.

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Biomass fuel is liquid, solid, or gaseous fuel produced by conversion of biomass. They are actually organic materials produced by plants, animals, or microorganisms. Those plants animals or microorganisms can be burned directly as a heat source or they can be converted into a gaseous or liquid fuel. Scientists are looking to biomass for sources of alternative fuels. Biomass can be directly converted to energy (not appealing for an environmentalists or non compatible to modern day living) or converted to liquid or gaseous fuels such as ethanol, methanol, methane, and hydrogen.

Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have discovered the secret of hardness of plant cell walls. They have discovered the fact why cell walls of some plants are so tough. This peek into the toughness of plant material could lead to a cost-effective and energy-efficient strategy for turning biomass into alternative fuels. Los Alamos researchers have published two papers separately in Biophysical Journal and recently in an issue of Biomacromolecules, These scientists have recognized the potential weaknesses among sheets of cellulose molecules comprising lignocellulosic biomass. That is the fibrous material being derived from plant cell walls. The material is the magical substance because it is the abundant source of sugar that can be used to brew batches of methanol or butanol, and ultimately can be converted into biofuels.

How cellulose is synthesized into plant cells? It is the result of polymerization. In polymerization, molecules of glucose (a simple sugar) join into long chains. The plant is known to assemble these chains of cellulose into sheets. The sheets are held together by hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are mainly an electrostatic attraction of a positive portion of a molecule to a negative portion of the same or neighboring molecule. These cellulose sheets stack atop one another. Stacks join with one another by other bonds that are weaker than hydrogen bonds. The plant then spins these sheets into high-tensile-strength fibers of material.

The bondings between these fibers are extremely strong, but they are incredibly resistant to the action of enzymes called cellulases. The main work of cellulases is to crack the fibers back into their simple-sugar components. Here lies the key to future biomass fuels. Because here we can easily crack up the cellulose into sugars then the sugars can be used to create alternative fuels. The firmness of cellulose fibers is the main hurdle in converting them into simple sugars. United States presently lacks an energy-efficient and cost-effective method for turning inedible biomass such as switch grass or corn husks into a sweet source of biofuels. Researchers are tirelessly working to find a crack into the armor of plants firmness.

Los Alamos researcher Paul Langan is working in collaboration with researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales in France. They are making use of neutrons to investigate the crystalline structure of highly crystalline cellulose - the same way a doctor uses an X-ray to find out the anomalies in our body. Langan and his colleagues found that although cellulose generally has a well-ordered network of hydrogen bonds holding it together, the material also displays significant amounts of disorder, creating a different type of hydrogen bond network at certain surfaces. These differences make the molecule potentially vulnerable to an attack by cellulase enzymes.

Tongye Shen and Gnana Gnanakaran discusss in Biophysical Journal, about a new lattice-based model of crystalline cellulose. The model exhibits that how hydrogen bonds in cellulose shift to remain stable under a wide range of temperatures. This plasticity permits the material to exchange different types of hydrogen bonds but also restrains the molecules. This way molecules form bonds in the weaker configuration described by Langan and his colleagues. Most important aspect of Shen and Gnanakaran's model is that hydrogen bonds can be manipulated via temperature differences. This manipulation works to make the material more susceptible to attack by enzymes that can crack the fibers into sugars for biofuel production.

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Biomass fuel is liquid, solid, or gaseous fuel produced by conversion of biomass. They are actually organic materials produced by plants, animals, or microorganisms. Those plants animals or microorganisms can be burned directly as a heat source or they can be converted into a gaseous or liquid fuel.

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Topic # 8: 150MPG ALGAE-POWERED TOYOTA PRIUS

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Topic # 8: 150MPG ALGAE-POWERED TOYOTA PRIUS

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First algae fuel-powered vehicle in the world was officially launched in San Francisco. The car, called Algaeus is a modified Toyota Prius, which derives power from green crude, from Sapphire Energy. The car runs on an astonishing 150 miles per gallon of green fuel. But they are aspiring to cross the US on approximately 25 gallons of fuel.

According to FUEL producer Rebecca Harrell, "Powering our cars with algae-based fuel could be the next Apollo mission." Rebecca Harrell is the co-founder of the Veggie Van Organization and producer of the upcoming film FUEL. In the coming 10 days she'll be accompanying the Fuel director and Veggie Van Organization cofounder Josh Tickell. Together they will take the Algaeus on a countrywide road trip. The duo's other travel companions will be other green energy vehicles (including the Veggie Van and the biodiesel-powered big green energy bus), "It hit us that we needed to drive the car across the country," Harrell said. "People think of algae fuel as this long-term, far off thing. But seeing is believing."

This countrywide tour will serve a dual purpose. People will be aware of the new clean and green fuel and they will give publicity to their forthcoming film FUEL. This film depicts America's dependency on foreign oil. They claim that their film is different from other environmentally-themed movies. Till now these movies raise a question mark and present us with bleak future. Those movies were usually silent about the answers to environmental hazards. FUEL tries to fill the gap here. They talk about the various methods to make the transition from oil to alternative sources of energy. What's important for everyday people is information. People don't say 'Can you give me something else to be scared about?' They say, 'How can I get my car to run on algae fuel?' Tickell explained. FUEL will be released in New York City, San Francisco, Berkeley, and Washington DC on September 18th.

But you can not fill your tank with algae fuel at your local gas station in the foreseeable future. But the company aims to increase production of algae-based jet fuel this year and plans production of over 2 million liters of algae based diesel fuel per year over the next two years. The car is powered by a mixture of 5% algae fuel and the manufacturers claim that the demonstration car will leave its mark as the environmentally friendly-fuel-driven automobile.

Though, it is early to conclude that we can use algae as transport fuel. We all know that five percent blend of algae doesn't precisely indicate the initiation of an algae revolution. But as the saying goes, glass if half full too. It states that advancement is being made on the fuel with great potential. This road trip will allow people to witness the progress in action. The main point of the Algaeus is to show the capability of algae to be used in an ordinary engine.

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First algae fuel-powered vehicle in the world was officially launched in San Francisco. The car, called Algaeus is a modified Toyota Prius, which derives power from green crude, from Sapphire Energy. The car runs on an astonishing 150 miles per gallon of green fuel.

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Topic # 6: GETTING BIOFUEL FROM THE WORLD’S GARBAGE

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Topic # 6: GETTING BIOFUEL FROM THE WORLD’S GARBAGE

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There is plenty of garbage on this planet; in fact there is so much garbage that many developed countries are trying to dump their garbage on the lands of lesser developed countries, at a fee of course. But does dumping garbage on other places solve the problem? On the contrary it spreads pollutions and diseases. In fact it is more dangerous to dump garbage in the less developed countries (because there are neither technologies available to process it nor enough awareness). Even creating landfills wastes precious resources.

Rather than having to dump, what if garbage can be used to generate power?

Global Change Biology has published new research that claims replacing gasoline with biofuel from processed garbage could cut global carbon emissions by 80%. A dream come true, isn't it?

Great strides are being made in the field of creating biofuels but a galling problem is that the biofuel production causes food shortage. Additionally, farmers are adopting controversial techniques and methods to increase their production and rather than helping the climate, it is harming it.

But garbage is abundantly available, fortunately or unfortunately. Second-generation biofuels like cellulosic ethanol obtained from processed urban waste may the sort of solution that kills two birds with one stone (just an expression, throwing stones at birds and killing them is bad): take care of the garbage and produce fuel.

According to the study author Associate Professor Hugh Tan of the National University of Singapore, "Our results suggest that fuel from processed waste biomass, such as paper and cardboard, is a promising clean energy solution."

He further says, "If developed fully this biofuel could simultaneously meet part of the world's energy needs, while also combating carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependency."

Data from the United Nation's Human Development Index and the Earth Trends database was used to arrive at an estimate of how much waste is produced in 173 countries and how much fuel the same countries annually require.

The research team has calculated that 82.93 billion liters of cellulosic ethanol can be produced by the available landfill waste in the world and the resulting biofuel can reduce global carbon emissions in the range of 29.2% to 86.1% for every unit of energy produced.

"If this technology continues to improve and mature these numbers are certain to increase," concluded co-author Dr. Lian Pin Koh from ETH Zürich. "This could make cellulosic ethanol an important component of our renewable energy future."

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Getting Biofuel from the World's Garbage

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There is plenty of garbage on this planet; in fact there is so much garbage that many developed countries are trying to dump their garbage on the lands of lesser developed countries, at a fee of course. But does dumping garbage on other places solve the problem?

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Topic # 11: SOLAR CELLS FROM TOBACCO PLANTS MAY BE A REALITY SOON

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Topic # 11: SOLAR CELLS FROM TOBACCO PLANTS MAY BE A REALITY SOON

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Alternative-Energy-News.info domain is for sale | Buy with Epik.com

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Alternative-Energy-News.info domain name is for sale. Make an offer or buy it now. Your purchase is secured by Epik.

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Topic # 2: As Biofuel Demand Grows, So Do Guatemala’s Hunger Pangs

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Topic # 2: As Biofuel Demand Grows, So Do Guatemala’s Hunger Pangs

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José Antonio Alvarado and his family harvested corn in November on a highway median in Guatemala, where farmers struggle to find land. Credit... Richard Perry/The New York Times

GUATEMALA CITY - In the tiny tortillerias of this city, people complain ceaselessly about the high price of corn. Just three years ago, one quetzal - about 15 cents - bought eight tortillas; today it buys only four. And eggs have tripled in price because chickens eat corn feed.

Meanwhile, in rural areas, subsistence farmers struggle to find a place to sow their seeds. On a recent morning, José Antonio Alvarado was harvesting his corn crop on the narrow median of Highway 2 as trucks zoomed by.

"We're farming here because there is no other land, and I have to feed my family," said Mr. Alvarado, pointing to his sons Alejandro and José, who are 4 and 6 but appear to be much younger, a sign of chronic malnutrition.

Recent laws in the United States and Europe that mandate the increasing use of biofuel in cars have had far-flung ripple effects, economists say, as land once devoted to growing food for humans is now sometimes more profitably used for churning out vehicle fuel.

In a globalized world, the expansion of the biofuels industry has contributed to spikes in food prices and a shortage of land for food-based agriculture in poor corners of Asia, Africa and Latin America because the raw material is grown wherever it is cheapest.

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Mr. Alvarado's wife, Nora Maritza, with corn the family collected. Credit... Richard Perry/The New York Times

Nowhere, perhaps, is that squeeze more obvious than in Guatemala, which is "getting hit from both sides of the Atlantic," in its fields and at its markets, said Timothy Wise, a Tufts University development expert who is studying the problem globally with Actionaid, a policy group based in Washington that focuses on poverty.

With its corn-based diet and proximity to the United States, Central America has long been vulnerable to economic riptides related to the United States' corn policy. Now that the United States is using 40 percent of its crop to make biofuel, it is not surprising that tortilla prices have doubled in Guatemala, which imports nearly half of its corn.

At the same time, Guatemala's lush land, owned by a handful of families, has proved ideal for producing raw materials for biofuels. Suchitepéquez Province, a major corn-producing region five years ago, is now carpeted with sugar cane and African palm. The field Mr. Alvarado used to rent for his personal corn crop now grows sugar cane for a company that exports bioethanol to Europe.

In a country where most families must spend about two thirds of their income on food, "the average Guatemalan is now hungrier because of biofuel development," said Katja Winkler, a researcher at Idear, a Guatemalan nonprofit organization that studies rural issues. Roughly 50 percent of the nation's children are chronically malnourished, the fourth-highest rate in the world, according to the United Nations.

The American renewable fuel standard mandates that an increasing volume of biofuel be blended into the nation's vehicle fuel supply each year to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and to bolster the nation's energy security. Similarly, by 2020, transportation fuels in Europe will have to contain 10 percent biofuel.

Large companies like Pantaleon Sugar Holdings, Guatemala's leading sugar producer, are profiting from that new demand, with recent annual growth of more than 30 percent. The Inter-American Development Bank says the new industry could bring an infusion of cash and jobs to Guatemala's rural economy if developed properly. For now, the sugar industry directly provides 60,000 jobs and the palm industry 17,000, although the plantations are not labor-intensive.

But many worry that Guatemala's poor are already suffering from the diversion of food to fuel. "There are pros and cons to biofuel, but not here," said Misael Gonzáles of C.U.C., a labor union for Guatemala's farmers. "These people don't have enough to eat. They need food. They need land. They can't eat biofuel, and they don't drive cars."

Trucks loaded with sugar cane. Credit... Richard Perry/The New York Times

In 2011, corn prices would have been 17 percent lower if the United States did not subsidize and give incentives for biofuel production with its renewable fuel policies, according to an analysis by Bruce A. Babcock, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University. The World Bank has suggested that biofuel mandates in the developed world should be adjusted when food is short or prices are inordinately high.

Concerned about the effects of its biofuel mandate on world hunger, the European Commission recently proposed amending its policy so that only half of its 2020 target could be met by using biofuels made from food crops or those grown on land previously devoted to food crops.

The current American mandate, established in 2007 by Congress, can be waived by the Environmental Protection Agency, but, according to law, such adjustments focus on domestic issues like cases in which biofuel "requirements would severely harm the economy of a state, a region or the United States," the agency said in an e-mail when asked for comment.

Once nearly self-sufficient in corn production, Guatemala became more dependent on imports in the 1990s as a surplus of subsidized American corn flowed south. Guatemalan farmers could not compete, and corn production dropped roughly 30 percent per capita from 1995 to 2005, Mr. Wise said.

But cheap imports disappeared once the United States started using corn to fulfill its 2007 biofuels standards. "The use of maize to make biofuel has led to these crazy prices," said Guy Gauvreau, head of the United Nations World Food Program in Guatemala. It "is not ethically acceptable," he added.

Félix Pérez used to grow corn, beans and fruit behind his home. He now rents a hillside plot. Credit... Richard Perry/The New York Times

In part because the agency's primary food supplement is a mix of corn and soy, it cannot afford to help all of the Guatemalan children in need, Mr. Gauvreau said; it is agency policy to buy corn locally, but there is no extra corn grown here anymore. And Guatemalans cannot go back to the land because so much of it is being devoted to growing crops for biofuel. (Almost no biofuel is used domestically.)

The southwestern village of La Ayuda is now an island of rickety dwellings in the middle of a giant African palm plantation. Félix Pérez, 51, used to grow corn, beans and fruit behind his home. He now walks about three miles to a cheap hillside plot that he rents for four months of the year. "Every day it's more difficult to survive since we live off the land, and there's less and less," he said.

Although African palm was practically nonexistent in Guatemala two decades ago, palm oil is now the country's third-largest export, after sugar and bananas, with exports rising by more than a third in 2011, according to United Nations trade statistics.

Although Susana Siekavizza, executive director of Grepalma, the local industry association, said that Guatemalan palm is currently exported for cooking oil, the high prices that it commands reflect heightened global demand for a crop also used in biofuel. It is exported in a raw form that can be distilled into biofuel in the receiving country, and Ms. Siekavizza said there was "interest" in manufacturing fuel in Guatemala.

Production of sugar cane, long a mainstay Guatemalan crop, has also skyrocketed as biofuels opened new market opportunities. Pantaleon Sugar Holdings, which once exported only food products, now uses 13 percent of its production for fuel. Local sugar prices have doubled.

For Guatemala's largest landowners, long-term leases with large biofuel companies are more profitable and easier to manage than cattle ranching or renting to subsistence farmers.

In small towns like San Basilio, representatives of one palm company are pressing farmers to lease their fields.

"I'm trying not to because I need that land to grow corn," said one farmer, Gilberto Galindo Morales, 46. But he added that farming has become difficult as nearby plantations divert and deplete rivers to feed industrial-scale irrigation systems. Ash from burning cane fields after harvest also damages his corn crop and irritates his children's lungs, he said.

With sometimes violent confrontations over land and labor, plantation gates are secured with armed guards. Still, Ms. Siekavizza of the trade group contends that the belief that palm cultivation is robbing people of food is "more myth than reality" since much of Guatemala's terrain and soil composition "is not well suited to growing corn."

In the remote Mayan villages in the north of the country, the incursion of plantations has brought a few good jobs and some training, but many complain of low wages and the backbreaking nature of the work, which mostly involves picking the small red fruits from African palm trees or off the ground. "We sold our land, so now we have to work, but I think it's better when you grow your own," said Juana Paula Tec Choc in the village of El Cancellero. "At least then you have some security."

A report last year by the United States Department of Agriculture noted Guatemala's potential for biofuel production, saying that palm plantations tended to be on "underutilized" agricultural land and applied no dangerous pesticides to the trees; that assessment could be important for getting palm-based fuel approved for use in the United States.

But villagers in El Cancellero disputed that, saying they suspected chemical poisoning was behind the mysterious deaths of four young children last year. On a recent afternoon, a crop duster buzzed overhead, and workers wearing tanks fitted with spray hoses trudged along a narrow road that separates what remains of the village from endless rows of squat palms.

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As Biofuel Demand Grows, So Do Guatemala's Hunger Pangs (Published 2013)

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GUATEMALA CITY - In the tiny tortillerias of this city, people complain ceaselessly about the high price of corn. Just three years ago, one quetzal - about 15 cents - bought eight tortillas; today it buys only four. And eggs have tripled in price because chickens eat corn feed.

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Energy technology: Making large amounts of fuel from organic matter has proved to be more difficult and costly than expected

SCIENTISTS have long known how to convert various kinds of organic material into liquid fuel. Trees, shrubs, grasses, seeds, fungi, seaweed, algae and animal fats have all been turned into biofuels to power cars, ships and even planes. As well as being available to countries without tar sands, shale fields or gushers, biofuels can help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by providing an alternative to releasing fossil-fuel carbon into the atmosphere. Frustratingly, however, making biofuels in large quantities has always been more expensive and less convenient than simply drilling a little deeper for oil.

Ethanol, for instance, is an alcoholic biofuel easily distilled from sugary or starchy plants. It has been used to power cars since Ford's Model T and, blended into conventional petrol, constitutes about 10% of the fuel burned by America's vehicles today. Biodiesel made from vegetable fats is similarly mixed (at a lower proportion of 5%) into conventional diesel in Europe. But these "first generation" biofuels have drawbacks. They are made from plants rich in sugar, starch or oil that might otherwise be eaten by people or livestock. Ethanol production already consumes 40% of America's maize (corn) harvest and a single new ethanol plant in Hull is about to become Britain's largest buyer of wheat, using 1.1m tonnes a year. Ethanol and biodiesel also have limitations as vehicle fuels, performing poorly in cold weather and capable of damaging unmodified engines.

In an effort to overcome these limitations, dozens of start-up companies emerged over the past decade with the aim of developing second-generation biofuels. They hoped to avoid the "food versus fuel" debate by making fuel from biomass feedstocks with no nutritional value, such as agricultural waste or fast-growing trees and grasses grown on otherwise unproductive land. Other firms planned to make "drop in" biofuels that could replace conventional fossil fuels directly, rather than having to be blended in.

Governments also jumped on the biofuels bandwagon. George Bush saw biofuels as a route to energy independence, signing into law rules that set minimum prices and required refiners and importers to sell increasing amounts of biofuel each year. By 2013, America was supposed to be burning nearly 3,800m litres a year of "cellulosic" biofuels made from woody plants.

Toil and trouble

But instead of roaring into life, the biofuels industry stalled. Start-ups went bust, surviving companies scaled back their plans and, as prices of first-generation biofuels rose, consumer interest waned. The spread of fracking, meanwhile, unlocked new oil and gas reserves and provided an alternative path to energy independence. By 2012 America's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had slashed the 2013 target for cellulosic biofuels to just 53m litres. What went wrong?
"Even if processes can be economically scaled up, that might in turn highlight a further problem."
Making a second-generation biofuel means overcoming three challenges. The first is to break down woody cellulose and lignin polymers into simple plant sugars. The second is to convert those sugars into drop-in fuels to suit existing vehicles, via a thermochemical process (using catalysts, extreme temperatures and high pressures) or a biochemical process (using enzymes, natural or synthetic bacteria, or algae). The third and largest challenge is to find ways to do all this cheaply and on a large scale.

In 2008 Shell, an energy giant, was working on ten advanced biofuels projects. It has now shut most of them down, and none of those that remain is ready for commercialisation. "All the technologies we looked at worked," says Matthew Tipper, Shell's vice-president for alternative energy. "We could get each to produce fuels at a lab scale and a demonstration scale." But bringing biofuels to market proved to be slower and more costly than expected.

The optimism of five years ago may have waned, but efforts to develop second-generation biofuels continue. Half a dozen companies are now putting the final touches to industrial-scale plants and several are already producing small quantities of second-generation biofuels. Some even claim to be making money doing so.

Consider Shell. Raizen, its joint venture with Cosan of Brazil, produces more than 2,000m litres of first-generation ethanol annually from sugarcane juice. Usually the fibrous stalks left over are burned for power or turned into paper, but next year Raizen will start turning them into second-generation bioethanol, using a cocktail of designer enzymes from Iogen, a Canadian biotechnology firm. Raizen hopes to produce 40m litres of cellulosic ethanol a year, cutting costs and boosting yield by co-locating its cellulosic operation with a traditional ethanol plant. Under this model, second-generation biofuels complement and enhance first-generation processes, rather than replacing them outright.

Three plants in America are expected to start producing cellulosic ethanol from waste corn cobs, leaves and husks in 2014: POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels (75m litres) and Dupont (110m litres), both in Iowa, and Abengoa (95m litres) in Kansas. But the first company to produce ethanol using enzymes on an industrial scale is Beta Renewables, a spin-off from Chemtex, an Italian chemical giant. An 80m-litre cellulosic ethanol plant in Crescentino, near Turin, has been running at half capacity over the summer, using straw from nearby farms. It will run on corn waste in the autumn, rice straw in the winter and then perennial eucalyptus in the spring. Beta Renewables has already licensed its technology for use in Brazil and Malaysia, and expects to sell several more licences by the end of the year. All Beta's plants can already make biofuels at a profit, albeit only in areas with very cheap feedstocks, says the firm's boss, Guido Ghisolfi.

Just as this cellulosic ethanol comes on to the market, however, demand for fuel is waning in many developed countries due to improvements in fuel efficiency and lingering economic weakness. As a result, demand for ethanol for blending is falling, too. In America, petrol containing up to 15% ethanol, while permitted by the EPA and promoted by ethanol producers, is still a rare sight on station forecourts.

Other biofuels companies are continuing to pursue drop-in fuels. One attraction is that compared with ethanol, the demand for which depends to a large extent on government mandates that it be blended into conventional fuels, drop-in fuels are less susceptible to changing political whims. Another is that drop-in fuels are commonly made with sugar as a feedstock, either conventionally sourced or cellulosic, and sugar is widely available and easily transported.

Stepping on the gas

Amyris, based in California, genetically engineers yeasts and other microbes to ferment sugar into a long-chain hydrocarbon molecule called farnesene. This can then be processed into a range of chemicals and fuels. After a few rocky years when it over-promised and under-delivered, Amyris is now producing limited quantities of renewable diesel for public buses in Brazil and is trying to get its renewable jet fuel certified for commercial use.

Solazyme, another firm based in California, is also focusing on renewable diesel and jet fuels, in its case derived from algae. Microscopic algae in open-air ponds can use natural sunlight and atmospheric or industrial-waste carbon dioxide to produce oils. But harvesting the fuel, which is present in only very small proportions, is expensive and difficult. Solazyme instead grows algae in sealed fermenting vessels with sugar as an energy source. The US Navy has used tens of thousands of litres of its algal fuels in exercises, and Propel, an American chain of filling stations, recently became the first to offer algal diesel. But although its technology clearly works, Solazyme remains cagey about the economics. A 110m-litre algae plant in Brazil, due to be up and running by the end of the year, may clarify Solazyme's commercial potential.

If drop-in biofuels are going to have an impact worldwide, they will have to be economic away from the tropical climes of South America, where sugar can be grown cheaply. The only commercial facility currently making drop-in fuels directly from woody biomass is operated by a start-up called KiOR. Its 50m-litre plant in Columbus, Mississippi, turns pine-tree chips into drop-in petrol and diesel for customers including FedEx, a logistics firm, and Chevron, an oil giant. KiOR uses a thermochemical process called fluid-catalytic cracking that borrows many technologies from conventional oil refineries and, unlike fussier biochemical systems, should scale up easily. KiOR is planning a 150m-litre facility in nearby Natchez. However, the Columbus plant is not yet running at anywhere near full capacity, and KiOR has a lot of debt and is still losing money. In August disgruntled investors launched a class-action lawsuit.

Some observers doubt whether even the most sophisticated biofuels can compete with fossil fuels in the near future. Daniel Klein-Marcuschamer, a researcher at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, conducted a comprehensive analysis of renewable aviation fuels. He concluded that producing first-generation bio-jet fuel from sugarcane would require oil prices of at least $168 a barrel to be competitive, and that some second-generation algae technologies would require crude oil to soar above $1,000 a barrel (the current price is around $110) to break even. Mr Klein-Marcuschamer has made his model open-source in an effort to help the industry find ways to make biofuels more competitive.

Even if second-generation processes can be economically scaled up, however, that might in turn highlight a further problem. To make a significant dent in the 2,500m litres of conventional oil that American refineries churn through each day, biofuel factories would have to be able to get hold of a staggering quantity of feedstock. Mr Ghisolfi of Beta Renewables points out that a factory with an annual output of 140m litres needs 350,000 tonnes of biomass a year to operate. "There are only certain areas, in Brazil and some parts of the US and Asia, where you can locate this much biomass within a close radius," says Mr Ghisolfi. "I am sceptical of scaling to ten times that size, because getting 3.5m tonnes of biomass to a single collection point is going to be a very big undertaking."

Billions of tonnes of agricultural waste are produced worldwide each year, but such material is thinly spread, making it expensive to collect and transport. Moreover, farms use such waste to condition the soil, feed animals or burn for power. Diverting existing sources of wood to make biofuels will annoy builders and paper-makers, and planting fuel crops on undeveloped land is hardly without controversy: one man's wasteland is another's pristine ecosystem. Dozens of environmental groups have protested against the EPA's recent decision to permit plantations of fast-growing giant reed for biofuels, calling it a noxious and highly invasive weed. Just as the food-versus-fuel argument has proved controversial for today's biofuels, flora-versus-fuel could be an equally tough struggle for tomorrow's.

This article appeared in the Technology Quarterly section of the print edition under the headline "What happened to biofuels?"

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Energy technology: Making large amounts of fuel from organic matter has proved to be more difficult and costly than expected SCIENTISTS have long known how to convert various kinds of organic material into liquid fuel. Trees, shrubs, grasses, seeds, fungi, seaweed, algae and animal fats have all been turned into biofuels to power cars, ships and even planes.

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Topic #12: AFFORDABLE SOLAR POWER WITH PURPLE POKEBERRIES?

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Topic #12: AFFORDABLE SOLAR POWER WITH PURPLE POKEBERRIES?

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Topic # 3: FUEL ADDITIVE PRODUCTION TAKES THE GREEN ROUTE

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Topic # 3: FUEL ADDITIVE PRODUCTION TAKES THE GREEN ROUTE

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Research is on for the organic production of isobutene (isobutylene). Thomas Bobik, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology and David Gogerty, a doctoral student are doing pioneer research for producing isobutylene with the help of a new but natural enzyme rather than from the traditional petroleum-based products. The enzyme is awaiting patent process completion.

Role of isobutene:

Isobutene is generally used as fuel additive and also for producing some chemicals like plastics, synthetic rubber, and adhesives. This is used in place of MBTE (methyl tert-butyl ether) as fuel additive (after being converted to isooctane); until now, obtained from petroleum products. Isooctane has been proved to be more beneficial than MBTE to the vehicles.

Converting glucose to isobutene:

The research has been focused on identifying a new natural enzyme. This new enzyme - called Bobik's enzyme - is capable of converting glucose found in plants to produce isobutene. Actually this is an enzyme found to occur naturally in fifty percent of all organisms found all over the world.

Positive influence of the enzyme:

The impact of this enzyme - identified as capable of aiding in producing fuel additive organically - can be tremendous in the bio-fuel production field. Though it is still initial stages, the expectations are running high about the positive influence of isobutylene special features.

The advantages of bioconversion:

Bio-fuel industry will benefit greatly cost-wise with this biological process to manufacture isobutene. This will be an eco-friendly process, beneficial to the environment. In the traditional ethanol production, cost of separating ethanol from water is quite prohibitively high. But the new conversion process produces isobutene in the gas form and so biofuel purification process will be cheaper and more efficient.

Current limitations:

Presently, the enzyme takes a lot of time for conversion of glucose into isobutene and so commercially not very cost competitive. The research is on for making the enzyme expedite the production of isobutene.

Directed enzyme evolution:

Directed enzyme evolution is an effort to contrive a speedy and cost-effective production of isobutene with the help of the enzyme. Science is giving nature a helping hand in production of isobutene.

Future prospects:

According to Bobic, the day is not far off when every car will run on a mixture of bio-based and environmentally advantageous gas mixture which will help in making the world a better and cleaner place to live.

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Fuel Additive Production Takes the Green Route

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Research is on for the organic production of isobutene (isobutylene). Thomas Bobik, Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology and David Gogerty, a doctoral student are doing pioneer research for producing isobutylene with the help of a new but natural enzyme rather than from the traditional petroleum-based products.

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Topic #5: THE NEW ROLE OF MICROBES IN BIO-FUEL PRODUCTION

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Topic #5: THE NEW ROLE OF MICROBES IN BIO-FUEL PRODUCTION

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Currently biofuel is produced from plants as well as microbes. The oils, carbohydrates or fats generated by the microbes or plants are refined to produce biofuel. This is a green and renewable energy that helps in conserving fossil-fuel usage. But a new research has led to a new discovery of getting the microbes to produce fuel from the proteins instead of utilizing the protein for its own growth. The research is being done at the premises of University of California in Los Angeles.

Focus

The focus of the experiment was to induce the microbes under the study to produce a specific kind of proteins rather than what they otherwise might be inclined to produce. This special protein can be refined in to biofuel. The task is to make the microbes produce only this kind of protein rather than utilizing it for their own growth and growth related activities as they otherwise do.

Different from prior practice

This kind of biofuel production is different from the traditional behavior of microbes where they use the protein only for growth. This is like tricking the microbes to deviate from that and produce fats or material that can be converted to biofuel. In the words of UCLA postdoctoral student and lead researcher, Yi-xin Huo -"We have to completely redirect the protein utilization system, which is one of the most highly-regulated systems in the cell."

First attempt at protein utilization

This has been claimed as the first ever attempt to use the proteins as a source for generating energy. Until now the biofuel-producing algae has not made use of the protein like a carbon supply for biofuel. It was only used for growth. But now the scientists have tampered with usual nitrogen metabolism process and induced biorefining process and altered the metabolizing of nitrogen at the cellular level.

A fringe benefit

By this process, they are letting the cells to retain the nitrogen and take out just the ammonia. Once done with the biofuel production, the residue is a better kind of fertilizer thanks to the low nitrogen levels. This in turn will lessen any greenhouse emissions that happen during the fertilizer production. The new process will reprocess the nitrogen back and will help in maintaining a nitrogen neutral state and less harmful emissions during fertilizer production.

Future plans

The Nature Biotechnology Sunday issue has published the team's findings. The team hopes that their findings will rewrite biofuel production by inundating the field with protein eating microbes which will generate fats and substances that can be converted into biofuel. The microbes will feed on proteins that are not fit for animal consumption and keep producing special proteins for biofuel conversion and later can become a better type if fertilizer with less nitrogen and nil harmful greenhouse emissions.

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The New Role of Microbes in Bio-Fuel Production

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Currently biofuel is produced from plants as well as microbes. The oils, carbohydrates or fats generated by the microbes or plants are refined to produce biofuel. This is a green and renewable energy that helps in conserving fossil-fuel usage.

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Topic #7: COMMON ALGAE FOR BIOFUEL BUTANOL PRODUCTION

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Topic #7: COMMON ALGAE FOR BIOFUEL BUTANOL PRODUCTION

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There have been various methods tried for reducing fossil fuel dependency and containing carbon footprints for a healthier and more eco-friendly future. Corn-produced ethanol has been used for mixing with gasoline but there have been side effects like corrosion from ethanol. Also huge tracts of precious farmlands need to be diverted for corn production. But now new research has thrown up results that show common algae can be used for biofuel production.

New Research

There has been research going on in University of Arkansas by a group of chemical engineers and research students of Honours College led by Asst. Professor & Project Leader, Jamie Hestekin. The focus is on converting the common algae into renewable fuel which can be used in automobiles with combustible type engines. The research is done on algae which survive on nitrogen, phosphorous, sunlight and carbon dioxide; and from which, organic acids and subsequently biofuel is produced.

Growing algae on 'raceways'

Long trench-like troughs - about two-foot wide and variable lengths are used for cultivating the algae. On a base of screens or carpet - actually any base works - they let normal river water to run in the troughs. The nitrogen and phosphorous in the water helps a lush growth of algae in sunlight which further receives carbon dioxide delivered in high doses via hollow long fibers. The algae can be harvested every 5-8 days and they keep growing afresh after harvest.

Butanol production made easy

Scraping the algae, drying it, carbohydrates are extracted which are converted to natural sugars. Then via fermentation process, sugars are converted into butyric, lactic and acetic acids. Again butyric acid is converted by fermentation into butanol. This process was made speedier by a special technique called electrodeionization - a process developed by a team member. This makes the entire fuel conversion process faster and less costly.

Utilizing existent 'dead-zone' cleaning

Water authorities in municipalities and state departments have been trying to clean up what is commonly called as 'dead zones' - water laden with overload of nitrogen and phosphorous which kill the aquatic flora and fauna, and fish etc. They purify and oxygenate the existent water-ways by removing the excess fertilizer run-off nitrogen and phosphorus. And common algae cultivation can be done side by side with the above cleaning process as is done in Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant in Queens where the research team and New York City Department of Environmental Protection are working in tandem.

Advantages of the new process

The new conversion process is less expensive and definitely more efficient. Apart from the fact that butanol is far superior to ethanol in efficiency, this process helps the water become less polluted and healthier. The algae use the extra nitrogen and phosphorous in the existent water and make it safer for marine flora and fauna. As Hestekin puts it succinctly, "the coolest thing about this process is that we're actually making rivers and lakes healthier by growing and harvesting the raw material."

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Common Algae for Biofuel Butanol Production

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There have been various methods tried for reducing fossil fuel dependency and containing carbon footprints for a healthier and more eco-friendly future. Corn-produced ethanol has been used for mixing with gasoline but there have been side effects like corrosion from ethanol. Also huge tracts of precious farmlands need to be diverted for corn production.

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Topic # 10: ARE BIOFUELS A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO FOSSIL FUELS?

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Topic # 10: ARE BIOFUELS A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE TO FOSSIL FUELS?